Pubdate: 1942
Source: United States Department of Agriculture
Title: Hemp For Victory

[Text from a short film produced during World
War II to hemp promote the cultivation of hemp.]

Long ago when these ancient Grecian temples
were new, hemp was already old in the service of mankind. For
thousands of years, even then, this plant had been grown for cordage
and cloth in China and elsewhere in the East. For centuries prior
to about 1850 all the ships that sailed the western seas were
rigged with hempen rope and sails.

For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp
was indispensable.

A 44-gun frigate like our cherished Old Ironsides
took over 60 tons of hemp for rigging, including an anchor cable
25 inches in circumference. The Conestoga wagons and prairie schooners
of pioneer days were covered with hemp canvas. Indeed the very
word canvas comes from the Arabic word for hemp. In those days
hemp was an important crop in Kentucky and Missouri. Then came
cheaper imported fibers for cordage, like jute, sisal and Manila
hemp, and the culture of hemp in America declined.

But now with Philippine and East Indian sources
of hemp in the hands of the Japanese, and shipment of jute from
India curtailed, American hemp must meet the needs of our Army
and Navy as well as of our Industry. In 1942, patriotic farmers
at the government's request planted 36,000 acres of seed hemp,
an increase of several thousand percent. The goal for 1943 is
50,000 acres of seed hemp.

In Kentucky much of the seed hemp acreage is
on river bottom land such as this. Some of these fields are inaccessible
except by boat.

Thus plans are afoot for a great expansion
of a hemp industry as a part of the war program. This film is
designed to tell farmers how to handle this ancient crop now little
known outside Kentucky and Wisconsin.

This is hemp seed. Be careful how you use it.
For to grow hemp legally you must have a federal registration
and tax stamp. This is provided for in your contract. Ask your
county agent about it. Don't forget.

Hemp demands a rich, well-drained soil such
as is found here in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky or in central
Wisconsin. It must be loose and rich in organic matter. Poor soils
won't do. Soil that will grow good corn will usually grow hemp.

Hemp is not hard on the soil. In Kentucky it
has been grown for several years on the same ground, though this
practice is not recommended. A dense and shady crop, hemp tends
to choke out weeds.

Here's a Canada thistle that couldn't stand
the competition, dead as a dodo. Thus hemp leaves the ground in
good condition for the following crop.

For fiber, hemp should be sewn closely, the
closer the rows, the better. These rows are spaced about four
inches. This hemp has been broadcast. Either way it should be
sewn thick enough to grow a slender stalk. Here's an ideal stand:
the right height to be harvested easily, thick enough to grow
slender stalks that are easy to cut and process. Stalks like these
here on the left wield the most fiber and the best. Those on the
right are too coarse and woody. For seed, hemp is planted in hills
like corn. Sometimes by hand. Hemp is a dioecious plant. The female
flower is inconspicuous. But the male flower is easily spotted.
In seed production after the pollen has been shed, these male
plants are cut out. These are the seeds on a female plant.

Hemp for fiber is ready to harvest when the
pollen is shedding and the leaves are falling. In Kentucky, hemp
harvest comes in August.

Here the old standby has been the self-rake
reaper, which has been used for a generation or more.

Hemp grows so luxuriantly in Kentucky that
harvesting is sometimes difficult, which may account for the popularity
of the self-rake with its lateral stroke. A modified rice binder
has been used to some extent. This machine works well on average
hemp. Recently, the improved hemp harvester, used for many years
in Wisconsin, has been introduced in Kentucky. This machine spreads
the hemp in a continuous swath. It is a far cry from this fast
and efficient modern harvester, that doesn't stall in the heaviest
hemp.

In Kentucky, hand cutting is practicing in
opening fields for the machine. In Kentucky, hemp is shucked as
soon as safe, after cutting, to be spread out for retting later
in the fall. In Wisconsin, hemp is harvested in September. Here
the hemp harvester with automatic spreader is standard equipment.
Note how smoothly the rotating apron lays the swaths preparatory
to retting.

Here it is a common and essential practice
to leave headlands around hemp fields. These strips may be planted
with other crops, preferably small grain. Thus the harvester has
room to make its first round without preparatory hand cutting.
The other machine is running over corn stubble. When the cutter
bar is much shorter than the hemp is tall, overlapping occurs.
Not so good for retting. The standard cut is eight to nine feet.
The length of time hemp is left on the ground to ret depends on
the weather. The swaths must be turned to get a uniform ret. When
the woody core breaks away readily like this, the hemp is about
ready to pick up and bind into bundles. Well-retted hemp is light
to dark grey. The fiber tends to pull away from the stalks. The
presence of stalks in the bough-string stage indicates that retting
is well underway.

When hemp is short or tangled or when the ground
is too wet for machines, it's bound by hand. A wooden bucket is
used. Twine will do for tying, but the hemp itself makes a good
band. When conditions are favorable, the pickup binder is commonly
used. The swaths should lie smooth and even with the stalks parallel.
The picker won't work well in tangled hemp. After binding, hemp
is shucked as soon as possible to stop further retting. In 1942,
14,000 acres of fiber hemp were harvested in the United States.
The goal for the old standby cordage fiber, is staging a strong
comeback.

This is Kentucky hemp going into the dryer
over mill at Versailles. In the old days braking was done by hand.
One of the hardest jobs known to man. Now the power braker makes
quick work of it.

Spinning American hemp into rope yarn or twine
in the old Kentucky river mill at Frankfort, Kentucky. Another
pioneer plant that has been making cordage for more than a century.
All such plants will presently be turning out products spun from
American-grown hemp: twine of various kinds for tying and upholster's
work; rope for marine rigging and towing; for hay forks, derricks,
and heavy duty tackle; light duty firehose; thread for shoes for
millions of American soldiers; and parachute webbing for our paratroopers.

As for the United States Navy, every battleship
requires 34,000 feet of rope. Here in the Boston Navy Yard, where
cables for frigates were made long ago, crews are now working
night and day making cordage for the fleet. In the old days rope
yarn was spun by hand. The rope yarn feeds through holes in an
iron plate. This is Manila hemp from the Navy's rapidly dwindling
reserves. When it is gone, American hemp will go on duty again:
hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for tackle and
gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and shore. Just
as in the days when Old Ironsides sailed the sea victorious with
her hempen shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for victory.